Ge-s-te glass compositions and infrared detection system



M. J. BRAU Feb. 27, 1968 GE-s-TE GLAss coMPosITIoNs AND INFRARED DETEc'rIoN SYSTEM Filed April 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O w8. 1.2 22N N5 WM 2). 29m

ATTORNEY Am "u En :nan

Feb. 27,1968 M. J. BRAU 3,371,211

GE-S-TE GLASS COMPOSITIONS AND INFRARED DETECTION SYSTEM Filed Apri] 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A o .'U' w N z o -S E.

l z m I E 'l J D l u g rn D l E I E E (2-1 Lu E \i t :g u l n 3 l i 22 Il l 3 O cn Lu E WN i -ln -ln 2 2 :c a. p- I m v 5 1 N z g, Si o n (Va) BONVLLIWSNVHl l l L 8 cq.; O M INVENTOR.

l (o)33NVll|wSNVH.L BY uur ce J Brou w21/MM ATTO R NEY 3 ,37 L'Z; i. Patented Feb., 27, l 968 its ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Disclosed are compositions of matter comprising ger man'ium, sulfur and tellurium, many samples of which `,l'saglOnQf the electromagnetic spectrum, ahridwsome of which have been found to be crystalline. Also disclosed are methods of compounding these compositions, and an illustration of the use of the glass compositions of this invention as transmitting elements within an infrared detection system.

have been found to begl/asses transmittingin the infraredY This is a continuation-impart application of previously liledapplication, Serial No, 425,887, filed January 15, 1965v now abandoned.

This invention relates to amorphous glass compositions, these compositions being particularly useful in photodetective devices, especially infrared photodetective de vices.

Detection systems responsive to light waves in the infrared region are today being developed for more and more military and civilian uses. As a result, the transmission of information in the infrared region of the en ergy spectrum has received increasing attention in recent years. For example, a variety of infrared detection sys-= tems has been developed each of which is composed generally of a detector having a responsive element sensitive to infrared energy and a transmitting element such as a lens or dome which, in addition to intercepting infrared rays at various angles of incidence and focusing them upon the responsive element of the detector, provides physical protection of the detecting element from its operating environment.

In order to fabricate these lenses or domes, therefore, a material is required which has certain desired characteristics, Of primary importance is the requirement that there be no interference with the transmission of the infrared energy to the responsive element of the detec-1 tor. Consequently, the material must be substantially trans parent over a broad range of the infrared spectrum. A sec ond requirement of the material is that it have favorable physical characteristics. This entails having a relatively high softening or melting point, a good chemical durability against weathering, a high degree of hardness, a relatively low coefficient of expansion in order to withstand large thermal shocks without cracking or separating, and a high refractive index in order to improve the detection eiciency of an entire detecting system.

With these requirements in mind, many materials known in the art are unsuited for use as an infrared transmitting material for certain applications., For exn ample, most of the synthetic crystalline infrared transmitu ters such as the alkali halides have excellent infrared transmission, ranging from to as high as 50 microns, but they are highly sensitive to moisture, and generally possess poor chemical durability. Single crystals of silicon, selenium and germanium have upper wave lengths transmission limits of 20, 2l and 16 microns, respectively, but they are expensive and very diiiicult to fabricate into desired shapes and sizes. Silica glasses will transmit;

infrared radiation, but. their useful transmission capability is limited to Wave lengths out to 5 microns in 2 milliI meters thickness. Various non-silicate glasses known inthe art have also seen found to be transparent in the infrared region, but either their wave length transmission is limited or they are unsuitable due to their physical limitations..

For example, arsenic trisulde, As2S3 falls within this class. Although having excellent transmission characteristics in the infrared region, being substantially transparent to infrared energy over a broad range of the energy spectrum (approximately l-11 microns in, wave length), it has very poor physical characteristics., The softening point of this glass composition is approximately 210 C., thus restricting its use at high temperature operation Its thermal expansion has been measured at about 29.0X10 6/C; the material will therefore tend to frac= ture and separate when cooled quickly, causing the sub-1 stance to be unable to withstand large thermal shocks during operation. It is also brittle and quite soft, having a Knoop hardness of only 109.

With these difficulties in mind, it is an object of this invention to provide amorphous glass compositions which, among other uses, will serve as infrared transmitting glasses, said compositions being substantially transparent over a broad range of the infrared spectrum.

It is another object of the invention to provide such compositions having favorable mechanical and physical properties.

It is another object of the invention to provide amorphous glass compositions capable of being heated to a molten state and easily molded into desired shapes and sizes.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide amorphous glass compositions suited for transmitting inn frared energy, which are capable of withstanding a high degree of thermal shock.,

In accordance with these objects, as Well as other ob jects, advantages and features of this invention, amorphous glass compositions consisting of various atomic percentages of germanium, sulfur, and tellurium have been developed. The many uses of these compositions will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In accordance with particular characteristics, however they may be used for the fabrication of infrared transmitting elements in detection system, affording substantial improvement over many glass compositions presently being used for such purpose. In addition to being capable of transmitting in frared energy from approximately l micron to over 20 microns, the amorphous glass compositions of this invenQ tion have softening points ranging from 140 C. to 421 thermal. coefficients of expansion as low as l4.0 l06/C., and possess relatively high Knoop hardn nesses. These glasses, therefore, not only have excellent optical properties in the infrared region, but also superior physical properties, such as, for example, better mechanin cal strength, higher thermal stability, and the capability of withstanding large thermal shocks.

In particular, one of the amorphous glass compositions of this invention, Ge40S53Te7, in addition to possessing all of the aforementioned advantages, has a special utility in the field of infrared detector systems. The efficiency of an infrared detecting system depends largely upon the ability of the dome or lens to intercept infrared rays of specified wave lengths at various angles of incidence and focus them upon the responsive element of the detector. This ability depends, in turn, upon the refractive index and the transmission characteristics of the dome. For this reason, most of the individual elements of the detecting system, are designed in accordance vnth the refractive index and the transmission characteristics of the particular glass used as the infrared domen Arsenic trisulfide glass, possessing a favorably high reg4 .fractive index approximately ai; 4g) and excellent;

.(2.41 between 3-5 u), thereby allowing the composition `Ge40S53Te7 to be directly substituted for arsenic trisulde in the fabrication of the dome or lens for an infrared detecting system without redesigning the entire system. This means that a much superior glass may be used without any considerable increase in cost.

Accordingly, it is a specific object of the invention to provide an amorphous glass composition which not only has superior physical properties, but may also serve as a replacement glass for arsenic trisulde in an infrared detecting system without the necessity of redesigning the entire system.

The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invenn n tion itself, however, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by `reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments,

read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,

wherein? FIGURE 1 depicts a ternary diagram of the atomic per-l centages of germanium, sulfur, and tellurium l'for various amorphous compositions of matter of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a graphical representation of percent transmission at room temperature at various wave lengths of the electromagnetic spectrum for various glass compositions of this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a graphical representation of percent transmission at room temperature at various wave lengths of the electromagnetic spectrum for Ge40S53Te7 and As2S3, showing a comparison between the two; and

FIGURE 4 illustrates one particular form of the glass compositions of this invention, usable as an infrared transmitting element, such as a dome or Ilens, within an infrared detection system,

Various atomic percents of germanium, sulfur and tellurium were chosen for each sample to be made. The appro priate amounts of the constituents were weighed and then placed in a previously cleaned quartz ampoule.. For exminutes in a 10% solution of concentrated hydroiiuoric.

(48% HF) acid, rinsing in deionized water about 15 mina utes, treating with aqua regia, rinsing in deionized water, and then drying. An alternate method is brushing in a suitable detergent solution, thoroughly rinsing in deionized Water, and then drying. The total Weight of each sample was between five and fifteen grams, The constituents of each sample were placed in a cleaned tube and evacuated to about 10-il torr and sealed, he sealed tubes of all samples were then placed in a furnace and gradually .heated to a temperature. of about 80G-900@ C. and held at that temperature for about 16' hours to provide suffiu cientl time Ifor the constituents to react completely with each other. The furnace was a rocking furnace which may be of any suitable design to provide agitation of the constituents so as to achieve complete reaction thereof. The samples were then removed from the furnace and held in a vertical position in. air .for air quenching and allowed to cool to room temperature. Care was taken throughout the process to prevent heating the constituents in to avoid causing any oxide formation. ln particular, in some cases the inside surface of the ampoule was carbon coated for the purpose of chemically reducing any extraneous oxides present.

The sample compositions which failed to form amorn phous glass by the air quench-cooling technique and were crystalline after quenching are presented in Table I below, whereas the compositions which formed amorphous glass are presented in Table II below with the softening point results obtained for the glass. The softening point is defined at the temperature at which a pointed quartz rod under a 70 gram load penetrates a smooth surface to a depth of 0.05 mm. where the rod is in perpendicular alignm ment with respect to the sample and the point defines a 90 included angle. The reaction conditions for the samples in Tables VI and II were the same:

TABLE I Composition, Atomic Percent Sample No.

Ge S Te 45 55 48 52 43 57 44 56 42 52 42 48 60 20 20 20 35 15 15 35 25 50 15 50 30 10 10 30 15 l5 20 40 40 20 20 30 10 45 45 40 10 80 78 22 55 23 46 22 32 30 55 15 25 60 15 25 70 5 15 65 20 5 65 30 55 35 85 .l 85 15 65 35 65 y15 45 50 "5 17 60 23 35 4 0 32 23 45 TABLE II Composition, Atomic Percent softening. Point; in C4 Ge S Te "Approximate value.

-In FIGURE 1, the peripheral lines A, B, and C genern ally circumscribe the amorphous compositions of germa nium, sulfur, and tellurim according to the invention. The samples which failed 'to form amorphous glass by the air quench-'cooling technique (listed in Table I) are plotted on FIGURE 1 by a block triangle and identified by sample numbers. The sample ternary compositions forming amorphous glass (listed in Table II) are also plotted in FIGURE l within the area generally circum scribed by lines A, B vand C and designated by black dots, each dot being identified by a sample number. As may be seen from FIGURE l, in the vicinity of binary glass examples S1, S2, S5 and S6, line A is substantially parallel to the Ge-S axis but does not include said binary glass examples, line A being directed to ternary glasses.

In FIGURE 2, the percent transmission of the electro-1 magnetic spectrum at room temperature in theone to 20 micron wave length region is plottedgfor various of the glass samples listed in Table II. Curve 1 represents a typical set of transmission characteristics common to the amorphous glass compositions designated in FIG- URE 1, excluding those amorphous compositions comprising 25 to 35 atomic percent germanium, 25 to 40 atomic percent sulfur, and 30 to 45 atomic percent tellun rium. Curve 2 represents the transmission characteristics for these latter compositions, particularly Ge30S30Te40, GesostoTeao, Ge25SaoTe45, Ge3oS25Te45, GeasszsTem, and GeaosasTeas The optical and physical properties of lthe amorphous glass compositions of this invention make them particularly suited, among other applications, for use as the transmitting element, such as -a dome or lens, in an infrared detecting system. All of the compositions have relatively high indexes of refraction, ranging from approximately 2.4 to 3.3 at 3-5n wave length. As previously noted with respect to FIGURE 2, there are two sets of typical transmission characteristics associated with the glass compositions of this invention. The compositions which are represented by Curve 2, particularly offer a distinct poten-tial for the fabrication of optical hardware (lenses, prisms, domes, windows) to be used for long wave length (1-20p) transmission.

Moreover, the amorphous compositions of the inven tion offer substantial advantagesvfor the fabrication of the transmit-ting elements for a variety of other reasons. First, there is a wide range of physical properties from which the designer may choose. For example, the softenD ing points range from approximately 140 C. to 421 C., and the Knoop hardnesses of the compositions have been measured from 104 to as high as 225. Second, these compositions offer -substantial advantages over crystalline material, in that they may be heated to a plastic state and easily Worked into desired shapes and sizes. Third, the reasonably high softening points and the available hardness oter greater ease in grinding, polishing and handling operations as well as stability to thermal shocks.

As previously mentioined, the amorphous composition Ge40S53Te7 affords substantial improvement over arsenic trisullide glass. In addition to having the same index of refrac-tion (2.41 at 3-5y. wave length) and comparable transmission characteristics (as depicted by the two transu mission curves shown in FIGURE 3), Ge40S53Te7 pos= sesses superior physical properties. The softening point has been measured at 385 C., substantially higher than the arsenic trisulde glass composition, and is also capable of withstanding large thermal shocks, having a thermal coefficient of expansion of 14.0X*6/C.. The composition Ge40S53Te7 is also substantially harder than the arn senic trisulfide glass since it has a Knoop hardness of 225.

FIGURE 4 depicts a form of the glass compositions of this invention, particularly Ge40S53Te7, for use within a particular infrared detecting system. The detecting sysn tem is normally composed of a detector .1 having a responsive element sensitive to infrared energy striking its surface, and an infrared transmitting element 2 such as a dome or lens in optical contact with the detector. -It is presently known in the art to fabricate the detector from doped semiconductor materials usually having low energy gap characteristics. In accordance with the previ= ous description the transmitting element 2 would be fa-s bricated from a glass composition of this invention, for example Ge40S53Te7. Consequently, when infrared rays strike the dome 2 at the incident angle si, the high index of refraction 2.41, of the dome material Ge40S53Te7 causes the rays to be bent toward the detector unit 1 at the angle of refraction thus increasing the eciency of detection. It is also to be observed that the dome or lens 2 provides physical protection of the detector 1 from its operating environment.

It should be understood that although most of the samples described above were essentially germanium, sulfur, and tellurium, minor percentages of silicon, phos=V phorus, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, etc. may be used in the glass of the invention to provide variations in the softening point and transmission of the glass composiE tions.

Although only the air quench-cooling method has been described for making the amorphous compositions of matter, other methods could be used. It is also to be appreciated that many other variations and changes in the invention will immediately suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and such variations and changes are deemed to be within the purview and scope of the in vention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A glass composition comprising in major proportion 18 to 23 atomic percent germanium, 57 to 63 atomic percent sulfur, and 17 to 23 atomic percent tellurium.

2. Ternary glass compositions as circumscribed by -Lines A, B and C in the ternary diagram of FIGURE 1.

3. Ternary glass compositions consisting essentially of germanium, sulfur and tellurium and lying Within line A of FIGURE 1.

4. Ternary glass compositions consisting essentially of germanium, sulfur and tellurium and lying within line B of FIGURE l.

S. Ternary glass compositions consisting essentially of germanium, sulfur and tellurium and lying within line C of FIGURE l.

y6. A glass composition consisting essentially of by weight 52.8% germanium, 30.9% sulfur, and 16.3% tel= lurium. i

7. An infrared detection system comprising a detector sensitive to infrared energy and a transmitting elementi? in optical contact with said detector, said transmittingi element consisting essentially of Ge40S53Te7 glass.

8. `Glass compositions consisting essentially of 25-35 atomic percent germanium, ,25 to 40 atomic percent sui tur, and 30-45 atomic percent tellurium, said glass comn positions having good transmission in the l to 20 micron wave length region of the electromagnetic spectrum and lying within line A of FIGURE 1.

References Cited.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/ 19615 Forber et al. na-...1m 234,134

7/ 1966 Cornish 11.11.1111. 2342315 X @THER REFERENCES `HELEN M. MCCARIHY, Primary Examiner. 

